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Credit & Copyright: Viking Project,
NASA
Explanation:
Is there life on Mars?
Although no unambiguous evidence for indigenous life on Mars has ever been found,
a more speculative question -- could some life forms survive on Mars -- has
taken on a new twist.
Two planetary scientists
recently speculated that were
extremophile microbes to involve a mixture of
hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
and water (H2O), these microbes might well be able survive the
thin, cold, dry atmosphere on Mars.
Life that involves
hydrogen peroxide does exist here
on
Earth, they note, and such life would be
better able to
absorb water
on Mars.
They also
claim that such life
would be consistent with the ambiguous results coming out from the
life-detecting experiments aboard the old
Viking Landers.
Although such
speculation
is not definitive, debating possibilities for
life on Mars has again proven to be fun and a magnet
for media attention.
Pictured above, the
Viking Lander 2
captured an unusual image of the
Martian surface
in 1979 sporting a thin layer of
seasonal water ice.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: life
Publications with words: life
See also: